Sullivan

Sullivan, Jeremy R.; Riccio, Cynthia A.; Reynolds, Cecil R. (2008, September 1). Variations in students' school- and teacher-related attitudes across gender, ethnicity, and age The Free Library. (2008). Retrieved November 09, 2008 from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Variations in students' school- and teacher-related attitudes across...-a0188351824

Variations in students' school- and teacher-related attitudes across gender, ethnicity, and age. The present study examined differences across gender, ethnicity ethnicity Vox populi Racial status–ie, African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic , and age with regard to the nature of participants' self-reported attitudes toward school and teachers, based on previous research suggesting that students' schooland teacher-related attitudes appear to have an influence on academic achievement. This study employed an archival approach using the standardization standardization In industry, the development and application of standards that make it possible to manufacture a large volume of interchangeable parts. Standardization may focus on engineering standards, such as properties of materials, fits and tolerances, and drafting ..... Click the link for more information. data (N = 10,140) from the Attitude to School and Attitude to Teachers scales of the Behavior Assessment System for Children Self-Report of Personality. Results of data analyses suggest that in general, males reported more negative attitudes toward both school and teachers; however, the effect sizes for the statistically significant gender differences were rather small. Age was not a significant main effect in any of the analyses for these two scales; there were no consistent patterns of more or less negative attitudes with increasing age for any of the gender or ethnic groups. Perhaps the most notable finding in the present study was a trend toward Hispanics reporting the most negative attitudes toward school while also reporting the most positive attitudes toward teachers. This finding suggests that there are factors other than teachers that contribute to Hispanics' negative perceptions of school; the exploration of these factors represents an important area for future research.

Keywords:

Attitudes,

School,

Teachers,

Gender,

Ethnicity,

Age

********** It is estimated that in 2003, 9.9% of individuals aged 16-24 years were not

enrolled in high school and had not obtained their high school diploma A high school diploma is a diploma awarded for the completion of high school. In the United States and Canada, it is considered the minimum education required for government jobs and higher education. An equivalent is the GED. ..... Click the link for more information. (Laird laird n. Scots The owner of a landed estate. [Scots, from Middle English lard, variant of lord, owner, master; see lord. , Lew, DeBell, & Chapman, 2006). The implications of not earning a high school diploma include short-and long-term impact on career options and earning potential (U.S. Census Bureau Noun 1. Census Bureau - the bureau of the Commerce Department responsible for taking the census; provides demographic information and analyses about the population of the United States Bureau of the Census , 1999) and a four-fold increased risk of unemployment (Edmondson & White, 1998). Research also supports an interaction between achievement and psychopathology psychopathology /psy·cho·pa·thol·o·gy/ (-pah-thol´ah-je) 1. the branch of medicine dealing with the causes and processes of mental disorders. 2. abnormal, maladaptive behavior or mental activity. (Hawkins, Catalano, Kosterman, Abbott, & Hill, 1999). School contexts provide a critical environment for the multitude of interactions that mediate MEDIATE, POWERS. Those incident to primary powers, given by a principal to his agent. For example, the general authority given to collect, receive and pay debts due by or to the principal is a primary power. the attainment of academic skills and foster cognitive, social, and affective affective /af·fec·tive/ (ah-fek´tiv) pertaining to affect. af·fec·tive adj. 1. Concerned

with

or

arousing

feelings

or

emotions;

emotional.

2. development. Students who do not complete high school therefore may suffer from poor psychological outcomes as a result of failing to develop these skills and competencies within the school setting. One potential source of school underachievement among children and adolescents may be classified as negative school-related attitudes. Research suggests that negative attitudes towards school are associated with lower achievement, lower expectations of future success, and antisocial antisocial /an·ti·so·cial/ (-so´sh'l)

1. denoting behavior that violates the rights of others, societal mores, or the law. 2. denoting the specific personality traits seen in antisocial personality disorder. behaviors (Brier brier or briar, name sometimes given any thorny plant, more specifically the sweetbrier, and the greenbrier. French brier, or brierroot, is a name for the root of the European white heath so widely used in the manufacture of smoking pipes. , 1995). Students with negative attitudes toward school also are likely to have poor relationships with teachers (Baker, 1999). There is considerable evidence that positive, supportive relationships with adults, including positive relations with school staff, improve outcomes for children (Masten & Reed, 2002; Resnick et al., 1997). Further, difficulty getting along with teachers and dissatisfaction with school appear to be common reasons students give for dropping out (Loughrey & Harris, 1990); research suggests that students who drop out of school perceive their teachers as unfair, disinterested Free from bias, prejudice, or partiality.

A disinterested witness is one who has no interest in the case at bar, or matter in issue, and is legally competent to give testimony. , and uncaring (Murdock, 1999; Tidwell, 1988). For middle school students, positive relations with teachers have been found to be associated with achievement, feelings of belonging, interest in school, and academic motivation (Roeser, Eccles, & Sameroff, 1998). Evidence suggests that the process of disengagement disengagement /dis·en·gage·ment/ (dis?en-gaj´ment) emergence of the fetus from the vaginal canal. dis·en·gage·ment n. from the academic environment begins prior to students entering high school, probably initiating in elementary grades (Einsminger & Slusarcick, 1992). Transition from elementary to middle school is associated with changes in school structure, variable classroom organizations and teaching styles, and differing teacher expectations, as well as changes in academic demands and standards (e.g., see Midgley, Feldlauger, & Eccles, 1989). The school context, academically and socially, is less predictable and more ambiguous with increased demands for self-motivation and self-responsibility (Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998). The change in school structure that occurs at middle school is associated with less positive relations between students and teachers, increased negative attitudes toward school, and decreased academic motivation (Roeser & Eccles, 1998; Wigfield & Eccles, 1994). Further, children's experience in transitioning to middle school/junior high is predictive of later adjustment (Eccles, Lord, Roeser, Barber, & Jozefowicz, 1999). Similarly, Learner and Kruger (1997) suggested that research reflecting a

decline in perceived quality of student-teacher relationships once students reach high school may be the result of changes in the way classes are taught in middle and high school as compared to elementary school elementary school: see school. . The authors suggested that high school teachers may spend more time keeping order within the classroom than providing individualized in·di·vid·u·al·ize tr.v. in·di·vid·u·al·ized, in·di·vid·u·al·iz·ing, in·di·vid·u·al·iz·es 1. To give individuality to. 2.

To

consider

or

treat

individually;

particularize.

3. attention or ensuring that students' emotional needs are being met. Indeed, high school tends to emphasize covering course content over nurturance. Further, most elementary school students have only a couple of teachers and ample opportunity to build personal relationships, whereas high school students typically have a different teacher for each class, thereby limiting the teachers' opportunity to build more personal relationships with students. Ethnic minority status also may be seen as a risk factor for low achievement, as students from ethnic minority backgrounds may experience more distress and negative school-related attitudes during adolescence adolescence, time of life from onset of puberty to full adulthood. The exact period of adolescence, which varies from person to person, falls approximately between the ages 12 and 20 and encompasses both physiological and psychological changes. due to discrimination, prejudice, alienation alienation, in property laws: see tenure. alienation In the social sciences context, the state of feeling estranged or separated from one's milieu, work, products of work, or self. from the majority culture, and the incidence of poverty among these groups (Spencer & Dornbusch, 1990). Indeed, students from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds are more likely to drop out of school (e.g., Allen & Mitchell, 1998; U.S. Census Bureau, 1999); research suggests that of White, African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. , and Hispanic students, Hispanics are most likely to drop out, followed by African Americans (Laird et al., 2006; Rumberger, 1995). Huebner and McCullough (2000) noted that much additional research is needed to explore the possible influences of factors such as gender, ethnicity, and age, as well as their interactions, on students' attitudes and level of school satisfaction. Further, although much research has been conducted on the nature of teacher-child relationships, children's attitudes toward teachers have not been studied extensively, especially with regard to ethnic and gender differences across grade levels.

Research

Questions

The purposes of this paper were to investigate variations in school- and teacher-related attitudes based on gender, ethnicity, and age, in order to determine whether these variables are associated with negative attitudes towards school and teachers. Our specific research questions were as follows: (1) Do students' attitudes towards school and teachers become more negative with age? (2) Do males and females differ in their self-report of school-and teacher-related attitudes? (3) Do White, African American, and Hispanic children and adolescents differ in their self-report of school- and teacher-related attitudes? Method Participants This study employed an archival approach using the standardization data from the Behavior Assessment System for Children Self-Report of Personality (BASC BASc abbr. 1. Bachelor of Agricultural Science 2. Bachelor of Applied Science SRP SRP - A data link layer protocol. ; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992). Participants were obtained from the normative nor·ma·tive adj. Of, relating to, or prescribing a norm or standard: normative grammar.

nor dataset of both the Child and Adolescent forms of this instrument. As reported in the BASC manual (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992), children and adolescents were selected from a total of 116 public and private school sites for participation in the standardization project in order to provide diversity in geographic region, socioeconomic status socioeconomic status, n the position of an individual on a socio-economic scale that measures such factors as education, income, type of occupation, place of residence, and in some populations, ethnicity and religion. , and ethnicity. Participants were recruited throughout the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , and 26 states were represented in the norm development project. The 10,140 cases included in the present study represent those for which complete demographic data were

available with regard to gender (female n = 5,040 or 49.7%; male n = 5,100 or 50.3%) and age, and who were listed as either White (n = 7,912 or 78%), African American (n = 971 or 9.6%), or Hispanic (n = 1257 or 12.4%). The Child form sample consists of 5,270 participants from ages 8 to 11 (52% of the total sample), and the Adolescent form sample consists of 4,870 participants from ages 12 to 18 (48% of the total sample). Table 1 provides a complete demographic representation of the sample, categorized cat·e·go·rize tr.v. cat·e·go·rized, cat·e·go·riz·ing, cat·e·go·riz·es To put into a category or categories; classify.

cat

within each year of age by total sample, gender, and ethnicity.

Instrument The Behavior Assessment System for Children (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992) is a comprehensive assessment tool that is frequently used in behavioral and psychological evaluations of children and adolescents. The BASC is multifaceted mul·ti·fac·et·ed adj. Having many facets or aspects. See Synonyms at versatile. Adj. 1. multifaceted - having many aspects; "a many-sided subject"; "a multifaceted undertaking"; "multifarious interests"; "the multifarious and includes rating scales for parents and teachers, a self-report scale for children and adolescents, a student observation scale, and a developmental history component. Each of these components may be administered independently of the others. The present study focused only upon the Self-Report of Personality (SRP) component of the BASC. The BASC SRP is an omnibus omnibus: see bus. self-report measure designed to assess the psychological and emotional functioning of children and adolescents. In order to provide examinees with developmentally appropriate items, there are two forms of the SRP: Child (ages 8 to 11) and Adolescent (ages 12 to 18). The Child form consists of 152 items, to which children provide a dichotomous di·chot·o·mous adj. 1. Divided or dividing into two parts or classifications. 2. Characterized by dichotomy.

di·chot answer of either "True" or "False" depending on whether the item accurately describes how they think or feel. The Adolescent form consists of

186 items in the same format. Responses to the SRP yield 14 individual clinical and adaptive scale scores, in addition to several composite and validity scale scores. For the purposes of this study, school-and teacher-related attitudes were assessed by examining participants' responses on the Attitude to School and Attitude to Teachers scales of the SRP. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2.

In

keeping

with:

according

to

instructions.

3. the BASC manual, the Attitude to School scale was defined as measuring "feelings of alienation, hostility, and dissatisfaction regarding school"; the Attitude to Teachers scale was defined as "feelings of resentment and dislike of teachers; beliefs that teachers are unfair, uncaring, or overly demanding" (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992, p. 58, Table 8.5). Examples of items on the Attitude to School scale include: "I don't like thinking about school", "School is a waste of time", "I don't care about school", and "I can hardly wait to quit school". The Child form of the Attitude to School scale contains 9 items, while the Adolescent form contains 10 items. Examples of items on the Attitude to Teachers scale include: "Most teachers are unfair",' 'Most teachers are lazy", "Teachers mostly look for the bad things that you do", and "My teacher cares about me". The Child form of the Attitude to Teachers scale contains 10 items, while the Adolescent form contains 9 items. As reported in the BASC manual (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992), the scales of the SRP appear to have adequate psychometric psy·cho·met·rics n. (used with a sing. verb) The branch of psychology that deals with the design, administration, and interpretation of quantitative tests for the measurement of psychological variables such as intelligence, aptitude, and properties. For example, with regard to the Attitude to School and Attitude to Teachers scales, internal consistency In statistics and research, internal consistency is a measure based on the correlations between different items on the same test (or the same subscale on a larger test). It measures whether several items that propose to measure the same general construct produce similar scores. coefficients were as follows: Attitude to School: Child = .83, Adolescent = .81; Attitude to Teachers: Child = .75, Adolescent = .80. Test-retest reliability test-retest reliability Psychology A measure of the ability of a psychologic testing instrument to yield the same result for a single Pt at 2 different test periods, which are closely spaced so that any variation detected reflects reliability of the instrument coefficients, based on a subsample sub·sam·ple n.

A

sample

drawn

from

a

larger

sample.

tr.v. sub·sam·pled, sub·sam·pling, sub·sam·ples To take a subsample from (a larger sample). of 223 children and adolescents tested and retested over a one-month interval, were as follows: Attitude to School: Child = .80, Adolescent = .83; Attitude to Teachers: Child = .72, Adolescent = .69. For more detailed information regarding the psychometric characteristics of the SRP, readers are referred to the BASC Manual (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992). Data

Analyses

Before conducting any analyses, raw scores on each individual scale were converted to z-scores in order to obtain a common metric, thereby making it easier to look across scales. The General Linear Model Univariate Analysis of Variance (ANOVA anova see analysis of variance. ANOVA Analysis of variance, see there ..... Click the link for more information.) function of SPSS A statistical package from SPSS, Inc., Chicago (www.spss.com) that runs on PCs, most mainframes and minis and is used extensively in marketing research. It provides over 50 statistical processes, including regression analysis, correlation and analysis of variance. was used to determine statistically whether mean differences exist among gender and ethnic groups in self-reported attitudes, and whether these groups exhibit different patterns across age. Because the number of items on each scale varies across the two forms (i.e., Child and Adolescent), separate analyses (and z-score conversions) were conducted for each form of each scale. Given the multiple comparisons involved in the present study, the Bonferroni correction In statistics, the Bonferroni correction states that if an experimenter is testing n independent hypotheses on a set of data, then the statistical significance level that should be used for each hypothesis separately is 1/n was used to determine the appropriate alpha level for the detection of statistically significant mean differences. For ANOVA results, the variance-accounted-for partial eta squared effect sizes for all differences are reported in order to determine the percentage of variance in the dependent variable that is explained by the independent variable or combination of variables. The Games-Howell post-hoc test was used to detect significant differences among the multilevel mul·ti·lev·el adj. Having several levels: a multilevel parking garage.

Adj. 1. multilevel - of a building having more than one level factors (i.e., Age and Ethnicity). This test was used instead of the other common post-hoc tests (e.g., Bonferroni) because Games-Howell does not assume equal variances, and the homogeneity Homogeneity The degree to which items are similar. of variance assumption was violated vi·o·late tr.v. vi·o·lat·ed, vi·o·lat·ing, vi·o·lates 1. To break or disregard (a law or promise, for example). 2.

To

assault

(a

person)

sexually.

3. in the ANOVA analyses (i.e., the Levene Test of Equality of Error Variances was significant at the .05 level for all analyses). Research suggests that the Games-Howell procedure is appropriate when (a) the homogeneity of variance assumption is violated, (b) the sample sizes within cells of the ANOVA design are unequal, and/or (c) the dependent variable is not normally distributed (Games & Howell, 1976; Jaccard, Becker, & Wood, 1984). Games-Howell is recognized as a robust post-hoc test that maintains the experimentwise alpha near its nominal level This article is about the term used in sound and signal processing. For usage in statistics, see nominal measurement. Nominal level is the operating level at which an electronic signal processing device is designed to operate. even when the assumptions of ANOVA are violated, while also demonstrating more power against Type II errors than other post-hoc procedures. Results School-Related

Attitudes

For the Child form of the Attitude to School scale, only the Gender variable produced a statistically significant difference among means, with males (mean z-score = .18) reporting more negative attitudes towards school than females (mean z-score = -.18), F (1, 4966) = 30.83, p < .001; the partial [[eta].sup.2] value for this effect was .006. The total Child form model accounted for 3.5% of the variance within the dependent variable (Adjusted [R.sup.2] = .035). The Adolescent form ANOVA revealed significant main effects for Gender, F (1, 4587) = 20.84, p < .001, partial [[eta].sup.2] = .005, and Ethnicity, F(2,4587) = 15.27,p < .001, partial [[eta].sup.2] = .007, and a significant interaction effect for Gender x Ethnicity, F (2, 4587) = 6.00, p = .003, partial [[eta].sup.2] = .003. The gender difference is explained by males (mean z-score = .15) reporting more

negative attitudes than females (mean z-score = -.16); this difference was consistently demonstrated at each year of age. Results of the Games-Howell post-hoc analysis Post-hoc analysis, in the context of design and analysis of experiments, refers to looking in the data—after the experiment has concluded —for patterns that were not specified a priori. indicate that Hispanics scored significantly higher (i.e., more negative attitude) on the Attitude to School scale than did Whites (p < .001) and African Americans (p = .002); mean z-scores were as follows: Hispanic = .19, African American = -.03, White = -.04. The significant Gender x Ethnicity interaction is explained by Hispanic male and female adolescents scoring more similarly on the Attitude to School scale across age than males and females in the other ethnic groups (total Hispanic male mean = .24, total Hispanic female mean = .14). With the African American and White adolescents, males consistently scored higher (i.e., more negative attitude) than females across age (total African American male mean = .16, total African American female mean = -.28; total White male mean = .13, total White female mean = -.21). Similar to the Child form model, the Adolescent form model accounted for 3.6% of the variance within the Attitude to School variable (Adjusted [R.sup.2] = .036). Teacher-Related

Attitudes

ANOVA results for the Child form of the Attitude to Teachers scale revealed a significant main effect for Ethnicity, F (2, 5035) = 18.24, p < .001, partial [[eta].sup.2] = .007, and no significant interactions. Results of the GamesHowell post-hoc analysis indicate that Hispanics scored significantly lower (i.e., more positive attitude) on the Attitude to Teachers scale than did Whites (p < .001) and African Americans (p = .003); this pattern was observed at each year of age (total Hispanic mean = -.28, total African American mean = -.03, total White mean = .03). ANOVA results for the Adolescent form revealed a significant main effect for Ethnicity, F (2, 4629) = 37.31 ,p < .001, partial [[eta].sup.2] = .016, as well as a significant main effect for Gender, F (1,4629) = 19.23,p < .001, partial ]]2 = .004, and a significant Ethnicity x Age interaction effect, F (12, 4629) = 2.64, p = .002, partial [[eta].sup.2] = .007. The Gender main effect is explained by adolescent males consistently scoring higher (i.e., more negative attitude) than adolescent females on this scale (mean z-scores = .09 and -.09, respectively). Results of the Games-Howell post-hoc analysis indicate that Hispanic adolescents scored significantly lower (i.e., more positive attitude) on the Attitude to Teachers scale than did Whites (p < .001) and African Americans (p = .009); Hispanic mean = -.30, African American mean = -.10, White mean = .07. At the same time, there was much variability among ethnic groups across age; this variability accounted for the significant Ethnicity x Age interaction

effect. The interaction can be summarized by stating that which ethnic group reported the most or least positive attitudes toward teachers depended on the year of age. This effect is most evident for the Hispanic and African American groups, as these groups show much variability across age. Whites, in contrast, showed little variability across age, with a slow but steady increase in negative attitude from age 14 to 18. In sum, the entire Child form model accounted for only 1.8% of the total variance within the Attitude to Teachers variable (Adjusted [R.sup.2] = .018), while the Adolescent form model accounted for 3.3% of the variance (Adjusted [R.sup.2] = .033). Discussion Overall, there was a tendency for males to report more negative attitudes towards both school and teachers, although the effect sizes for the statistically significant gender differences were rather small. Further, the significant Gender x Ethnicity interaction observed for the Adolescent form of the Attitude to School scale indicates that adolescent Hispanic males and females are less different than are males and females within the other ethnic groups. The trend for males to report more negative attitudes is consistent with previous research in which females reported more satisfaction with school, higher levels of affiliation with school, and more positive relationships with teachers (Calabrese & Poe, 1990; Trusty & Dooley-Dickey, 1993). In light of the significant Gender x Ethnicity and Ethnicity x Age interactions for the Attitude to School and Attitude to Teachers scales, respectively, it is difficult to make summary statements based on ethnic group alone. That is, which ethnic group scored highest or lowest depended to some extent on gender and age. At the same time, there was a trend in which (a) Hispanic adolescents reported more negative attitudes toward school than did African American and White adolescents, and (b) White and African American children and adolescents reported more negative attitudes toward teachers than did Hispanic children and adolescents. These findings are consistent with some of the previous research in this area which suggested that (a) Hispanic students are more likely than White and African American students to drop out of school (Laird et al., 2006; Rumberger, 1995), and (b) Hispanic students report being more fearful of school than Whites and African Americans, perhaps due to negative early experiences with school and a low academic self-concept (Newbill & Clements, 2000). This combination of results (i.e., Hispanics reporting the most negative attitudes toward school while also reporting the most positive attitudes toward teachers) suggests that there are factors other than teachers that contribute to Hispanics' negative perceptions of school; the exploration of these factors represents an important area for future research. Age was not a significant main effect in any of the analyses for these two

scales. Further, no age patterns were consistent enough to suggest more negative attitudes towards school or teachers with increased age; this was true for both genders and all three ethnic groups. Overall, the observed z-scores indicate that there is much variability across age with regard to school- and teacher-related attitudes, rather than the linear declines that have been suggested in the literature. The finding that negative attitudes towards school and teachers did not consistently increase with age was somewhat surprising not only in light of previous research, but also in light of the increased academic demands, changes in teacher-student relationships, and less individualized attention that may be associated with the transition from elementary to middle to high school (Learner & Kruger, 1997). It is possible that some students who would have reported negative attitudes had left school by the time they reached the older ages included in the study (i.e., ages 16, 17, and 18), and therefore their perceptions were underrepresented un·der·rep·re·sent·ed adj. Insufficiently or inadequately represented: the underrepresented minority groups, ignored by the government. in the data. While the results of our study did reveal some statistically significant differences among groups, the low effect sizes associated with most of these differences suggest that most of the variance within the dependent variables can be accounted for by independent variables other than gender, ethnicity, and age. These findings are similar to those of McDermott (1995), who found that less than 6% of the variance in children's and adolescents' overall adjustment was explained by demographic variables such as gender, ethnicity, and age. The author concluded that while many of the variance-accounted-for percentages were statistically significant, they were relatively trivial in a practical sense. We are reminded that statistical significance is distinct from practical and clinical significance, and our excitement about the statistically significant differences observed in the present study is tempered by the low effect sizes associated with these differences. At the same time, this also leads to the question: if variations in school- and teacher-related attitudes are explained to only a limited degree by demographic variables, what factors or variables may have more predictive or explanatory ex·plan·a·to·ry adj. Serving or intended to explain: an explanatory paragraph.

ex·plan

power?

Rutter (1985) hypothesized that as children grow into adolescents, their increasing capacity to understand and process stressful events and circumstances may boost their resilience resilience (r ·zilˑ·yens), n to distress. As related to the lack of age effects on our dependent variables,

one hypothesis would be that perhaps the simultaneous development of coping skills A coping skill is a behavioral tool which may be used by individuals to offset or overcome adversity, disadvantage, or disability without correcting or eliminating the underlying condition. Virtually all living beings routinely utilize coping skills in daily life. and problem-solving abilities during childhood and adolescence serves as a buffer against the possible negative effects of changes in the school environment from elementary to middle to high school. With regard to developmental differences in coping skills and problem-solving abilities, research findings suggesting increases in the use of various adaptive coping strategies The German Freudian psychoanalyst Karen Horney defined four socalled coping strategies to define interpersonal relations, one describing psychologically healthy individuals, the others describing neurotic states. with age have been reported in the literature (e.g., Altshuler & Ruble, 1989; Band & Weisz, 1988; Compas, Malcarne, & Fondacaro, 1988). In a recent review of the coping literature by Compas, Connor-Smith, Saltzman, Thomsen, and Wadsworth (2001), the authors noted that developmental differences in coping abilities, in addition to differences related to demographic characteristics such as gender and ethnicity, have not been satisfactorily examined in the literature largely due to inconsistencies in the conceptualization con·cep·tu·al·ize v. con·cep·tu·al·ized, con·cep·tu·al·iz·ing, con·cep·tu·al·iz·es v.tr. To form a concept or concepts of, and especially to interpret in a conceptual way: and measurement of coping. One of the conclusions was that given the developmental changes and potentially stressful experiences that occur during adolescence, an important avenue for future research will be to examine whether these developmental changes and challenges are paralleled by simultaneous changes in coping abilities (Compas et al., 2001). The results of the present study must be interpreted in light of several limitations. First, some of the cell sample sizes for African Americans were quite small, especially from age 15 to 18 (see Table 1). These small cell sizes limit our confidence in the results for older African American adolescents. Further, because the results are based on small samples, their generalizability to the population of African American adolescents is likely quite limited. Second, the study is limited by the relatively few demographic variables included. Unfortunately, the inclusion of SES as an independent variable was not possible using the database that was employed in the present study. This variable may have explained a greater proportion of the variance in the dependent variables than did gender, ethnicity, and age, due to the potential negative effects of poverty on children's development (Luthar, 1999). The

developmental psychopathology Developmental psychopathology is the analysis of development of psychopathic tendencies in all aspects of mental aging throughout life. Developmental psychopathology is a sub-field of developmental psychology characterized by the following (non-comprehensive) list of perspective also has demonstrated the importance of including additional independent or predictor variables Noun 1. predictor variable - a variable that can be used to predict the value of another variable (as in statistical regression) variable quantity, variable - a quantity that can assume any of a set of values in developmental research studies. Third, the study employed a cross-sectional design, which limits the amount of confidence we have in developmental trends because each participant completed the SRP on only a single occasion, rather than on multiple occasions over time. A longitudinal lon·gi·tu·di·nal adj. Running in the direction of the long axis of the body or any of its parts. approach would provide more insight into the ways in which school- and teacher-related attitudes change over time, and also would allow researchers to examine whether students with negative school- and teacher-related attitudes at a young age are likely to drop out of high school. Finally, this study did not include a measure of level of acculturation acculturation, culture changes resulting from contact among various societies over time. Contact may have distinct results, such as the borrowing of certain traits by one culture from another, or the relative fusion of separate cultures. for minority participants. Given the large amount of within-group variability among diverse ethnic groups, it would have been useful to look at the influence of level of acculturation on the experience of school among minorities. Author

Note:

This research is based on part of the first author's doctoral dissertation dis·ser·ta·tion n. A lengthy, formal treatise, especially one written by a candidate for the doctoral degree at a university; a thesis. dissertation Noun 1. . The second author served as chair of the dissertation committee, and the third author served as a member of the committee. A preliminary version of this

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(1985). state

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face or

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ad·ver·si·ty ad·ver·si·ties misfortune.

2. A calamitous event. : Protective factors and resistance to psychiatric psy·chi·at·ric adj. Of or relating to psychiatry. psychiatric adjective Pertaining to psychiatry, mental disorders disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry psychiatry (səkī`ətrē, sī–), branch of medicine that concerns the diagnosis and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, including major depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety. , 147, 598611. Spencer, M. B., & Dornbusch, S. M. (1990). Challenges in studying minority youth. In S. S. Feldman & G. R. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold At the Threshold, whose son Lil E. Tee won the 1992 Kentucky Derby for W. Cal Partee, died March 23 of a stroke at Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine in West Lafayette, Ind. The 21-year-old stallion stood at Wayne Houston's Stoney Creek Horse Farm near Mooreland, Ind. ..... Click the link for more information.: The developing adolescent (pp. 123146). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press The Harvard University Press is a publishing house, a division of Harvard University, that is highly respected in academic publishing. It was established on January 13, 1913. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. .

Tidwell, R. (1988). Dropouts speak out: Qualitative data on early school departures. Adolescence, 23, 939-954. Trusty, J., & Dooley-Dickey, K. (1993). Alienation from school: An exploratory analysis of elementary and middle school students' perceptions. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 26, 232-242. U.S. Census Bureau. (1999). Statistical abstract of the United States The Statistical Abstract of the United States is a publication of the United States Census Bureau, an agency of the United States Department of Commerce. Published annually since 1878, the statistics describe social and economic conditions in the United States. ..... Click the link for more information.: 1999. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. (1994). Childrens' competence beliefs, achievement values, and general self-esteem: Change across elementary and middle school. Journal of Early Adolescence, 14, 107-138. Jeremy R. Sullivan, University of Texas at San Antonio The main campus is situated on 600 acres (2.4 km²,) at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Loop 1604 near the northern edge of San Antonio, Texas in Bexar County. The university is also one of the UT System's fastest growing schools, maintaining a 12. ..... Click the link for more information.. Cynthia A. Riccio and Cecil R. Reynolds Cecil Randy Reynolds is an American psychology professor known for his work in psychological testing and assessment. Reynolds was born on February 7, 1952 at the US Naval Hospital in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. His father, Cecil C. , Texas A&M University. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jeremy R. Sullivan, University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology. E-mail: [email protected] Table 1 Frequency and percent of cases for each year of age across total sample, gender, and ethnicity Gender Total Sample Age

Freq

Male %

Freq

Female %

Freq

%

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

871 1,462 1,523 1,414 1,259 1,326 651 476 436 464 258

8.6 14.4 15.0 13.9 12.4 13.1 6.4 4.7 4.3 4.6 2.5

421 4.2 757 7.5 727 7.2 687 6.8 621 6.1 680 6.7 332 3.3 246 2.4 244 2.4 257 2.5 128 1.3

450 4.4 705 7.0 796 7.9 727 7.2 638 6.3 646 6.4 319 3.1 230 2.3 192 1.9 207 2.0 130 1.3

Ethnicity

White Age 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Freq 754 1,178 1,175 1,082 1,008 1,098 492 322 291 316 196

African American %

Freq

7.4 75 11.6 184 11.6 188 10.7 168 9.9 119 10.8 107 4.9 57 3.2 32 2.9 20 3.1 16 1.9 5

Hispanic %

0.7 1.8 1.9 1.7 1.2 1.1 0.6 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.0

Freq

%

42 0.4 100 1.0 160 1.6 164 1.6 132 1.3 121 1.2 102 1.0 122 1.2 125 1.2 132 1.3 57 0.6

Note. N = 10,140. Ages 8 through 11 comprise the Child form of the SRP; ages 12 through 18 comprise the Adolescent form.